Tobacco pipe



July 30, 1940.

TOBACCO PIPE Original Filed Aug. 26, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l k l9- 75 M I 1) 70 20 27a 2/ 3 a K I H a 20 Z7 OTTO C. SEMONSEN INVENTOR.

HIS ATTORNEY.

o. c. SEMONSEN 2.209194- y 30, 1940- Q o. c. SEMONSEN 2,209,794

TOBACCO PIPE Original Filed Aug. 26, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 EEE OTTO OSE/YO/VSE/V IN VEN TOR.

M via/lei A TT NEY Patented July 30, 1940 UNITED STATES TOBACCO PIPE Otto C. Semonsen, Bellerose, N. Y.

Application August 26, 1933, Serial No. 686,863 Renewed February 25, 1937 6 Claims.

This invention relates to absorbent elements for tobacco pipes and in particular to providing improvements in such devices for absorbing and drying the smoke; separating the nicotine from it; keeping the mouth piece free-from the products of combustion and saliva; restricting the formation of carbon in the bowl; providing means for quickly cleaning the air passages in the pipe; renewing the absorbing means without soiling the smokers fingers; and for keeping the pipe in a clean and sanitary condition.

The principal object of the invention therefore is to provide a readily available, inexpensive, and efiicient absorbent member for tobacco pipes.

Another object is to provide a pipe construction which will enable the smoker to quickly install or renew the absorbing member Without the use of tools.

Another object is to provide an arrangement whereby the soiled absorbing member may be removed without touching it with the fingers, thereby preventing any manual contact with the soiled absorbent.

A further object is to provide an improved bowl construction which will prevent the seepage of saliva from the stem into the bowl and which will thus also reduce the possibility of clogging up the air passages by partially burned tobacco.

A further object is to provide means which cause the pipe to be self-cleaning, when the mouth piece thereof is removed.

Other objects will become apparent from a more detailed description in connection with the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure l is a sectional view through a pipe made according to the invention, exposing the absorbing means;

Figure 2 is a fractional elevation of the inner 40 end of the mouth piece on an enlarged scale, showing the attaching means for the absorbent;

Figure 3 is an inner end view of the same member;

Figure 4 is a fractional elevation of the inner end of a modified form of mouth piece, serving a similar function as the one shown in Fig. 2 and drawn on an enlarged scale;

Figure 5 is an inner end View of the mouth piece shown in Fig. 4.

Figure 6 illustrates a standard pipe cleaner now on the market and which is utilized as an absorbent in connection with the present invention. The dot and dash lines indicate Where the pipe cleaner is to be bent for folding upon itself.

Figure 7 shows the pipe cleaner suitably doubled upon itself before it is inserted into the pipe.

Figure 8 illustrates another form of pipe, partly in section, equipped with an absorbing and moisture collecting device according to theprinciple of the invention;

Figure 9 is a side elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the threaded end of the mouth piece of the pipe, showing also a part of the pipe stem in section.

Numerous attempts have been made to accomplish the aforementioned objects. Various sorts of special absorbents have heretofore been devised, but have proven only partially effective. Common draw backs of special absorbents are that they are cumbersome and it is an unpleasant task to renew them when they become clogged up by the products of combustion and moisture. must be kept on hand and in the case of certain paper absorbents which can be improvised, special cutting and fitting of the cut pieces must be resorted to. None have been convenient for replacement, as for example when Walking on the street or again, without preparations requiring the use of auxiliary tools, and replacement 'always has been attended by the unavoidable inconvenience of soiling ones fingers.

The'reis an available absorbent on sale at all tobacconists which moreover is an article that most every pipe smoker uses although for a different purpose, and it is most likely to be carried in the smokers pocket. This is the common pipe cleaner of the character shown in Fig. 6. As illustrated, it is composed of fibrous strands of absorbent material Hi, held by two central, helically twisted Wires ll (shown exposed at the left end of the cleaner) of approximately seven inches in length.

I have devised a pipe construction in which such a pipe cleaner, in its entirety, can be used as an absorbent. The pipe cleaner is bent and folded upon itself at l2 and the two ends are bent and folded upon themselves at I3 in the manner indicated in Figs. 6 and 7. As the wire core ll of the pipe cleaner is annealed, it will remain in folded form, although suflicient resiliency will remain to keep the sections spread apart. Then the pipe cleaner is inserted into the pipe construction which will now be described.

The outer form of the pipe does not differ from the usual appearance of such tobacco pipes and it may varyalso in the same way. The stem may be straight as shown in Fig. 1, or a A supply of such special absorbents n curved one as shown in Fig. 8, and the interior construction shown can be accommodated to the latter shape without material modification.

Assuming the straight stemmed pipe, as illustrated in Fig. 1, as a typical embodiment of the present invention, i5 indicates a bowl having a stem l6, preferably formed integral therewith, and provided with a burning chamber H for tobacco. This chamber has a false bottom 18, either cemented or otherwise fixedly held therein. However, as the construction in Fig. 8 shows, it is possible to form this false bottom is integral with the bowl and stem, by boring out the chamber and the stem separately and drilling a communicating passage l9 therebetween. The shape of the chamber H can be modified, to either cylindrical, conical, or barrel-shaped form, as at ll in Fig. 8, provided only that in the case of a separate false bottom the diameter of the chamber at all points is great enough to permit forcing the false bottom into place. The passageway i9 is rearwardly inclined and positioned centrally near the neck of the stem so as to facilitate the insertion of a pliable wire or pipe cleaner thru the smoke passage when a thorough cleaning of the pipe is desired. The stem it is provided with a straight bore 26 which is slightly larger in diameter than is customary in short tobacco pipes. Its size is sufficient to freely accommodate four thicknesses of a standard pipe cleaner (i. e. of one pipe cleaner twice folded upon itself as shown in Fig. 7). I have found that a 6 diameter bore is suitable for my purpose. The bore 28 is carried beyond the false bottom with a conical ending or rounding off as shown at Zil'. Thus the bore forms a separate chamber for collection of moisture or saliva from the month which, as I have found, is greatly in excess of moisture originating from tobacco burning in the bowl. The false bottom and the absorbent quality of the inserted pipe cleaner effectively prevents the seepage of this part of the moisture upwardly into the bowl. The accumulation of the thick cake or carbon, usually occurring on the inside wall of bowls, is greatly promoted by moisture, and I have found that when the bowl is protected against moisture originating from the smokers mouth by the combination of a false bottom and an absorbent medium, the carbon layer, even over a long period of usage and without the usual scraping or cleaning of the bowl, is only slight and very slow in forming. On the other hand, the nicotine-laden smoke together with other products of combustion of the tobacco, when drawn through the stem, is efficiently absorbed by the folded pipe cleaner, so that a dry, cool, and clean smoke results.

The mouth piece 2! is of substantially the usual construction, that is, it has a long conical shank 2m, gradually tapering toward the fiattened annular toothridge Zlb, and a short cylindri al coupling piece 210 of reduced diameter which tightly fits into the bore 2% of the stem to. The rim of the bore may be chamfered 011 as at 22 to insure a tight circumferential fit. The mouth piece throughout its length is perforated by the smoke passage 23, and at the inner end of the mouth piece there is provided an inner bushing 24, fixedly forced into a recess Zid of the coupling piece 2lc. While the mouth piece is generally made of material other than wood, for instance, or Bakelite, amber, or, as indicated in the drawings, of hard rubber, the bushing is preferably made of a non-oxidisable metal. The inner end of the bushing is formed with a flange 241a, seated on the face of the coupling piece 2IC, and on the inner face of the bushing, protruding into the bore 20 of the stem, is provided a small hook 25 which, when the mouth piece is assembled has its extreme tip 25a immediately adjacent the inner wall of the bore 211. This hook is inserted over the bend E2 of the pipe cleaner (see Fig. '7) when the latter is inserted into bore 20 and the mouth piece is forced or screwed with its coupling end into the s em.

The bushing is perforated in suitable manners to form a communicating passage from the chamber 20 to the smoke tube 23 of the mouth piece. This may be done in different ways, as Figs. 2 and 3 indicate. The slot of the bushing may extend from the top down to the root of the hook 25, as indicated at 21, and the front end of the slot may be elongated vertically and tapered off at 28 to meet the bottom of the smoke passage 23. In a modified form, shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the bushing is perforated in alignment and flush with the bore 23, as at 39, while the hook portion 25' which in this case may run diametrically across the inner end of the bushing, is scooped out at the base at 29 where it bridges the passage 30. The inner edge of this passage 3!! may be chamfered at 3012 so as not to cover the total smoke area. Whenever it is desired to renew the absorbing material,

When removing the push type of mouth piece,

it is advantageous to give it a twist to the right and the left, so as to impart a sweeping rotary motion to the pipe cleaner or the coupling piece Zlc. When threaded as shown in the modified form of the mouth piece 2] in Fig. 8, indicated by Eli, such rotation will serve to wipe off the wall of the stem bore.

Modifications of my construction and arrange ment are possible Without deviating from the principles of my invention, and the scope of said invention should therefore not be judged by the mere details described and illustrated, but rather from the claims appended hereto.

Having thus described my invention and pointed out the features which are new, what I claim 1s:

1. In a tobacco pipe, the combination of a bowl with an integral perforated stem extension, a removable mouth piece having means providing for rigid attachment of said mouth piece to said stem extension and said mouth piece being provided with a hook at its inner end, and a pipe cleaner bent upon itself, detachably engaging said hook and inserted into the perforation of said stem extension to serve as an absorbing medium. during the act of smoking.

2. A tobacco pipe comprising a bowl integral with a stem, said stem being perforated to form a chamber separated from the bowl and communicating therewith by an upwardly inclined single passage, a mouth piece having a recessed neck slidably fitted into said stem, a bushing in the inner end of said mouth piece, a hook formed integrally with said bushing, and a pipe cleaner twice folded upon itself to form a member of approximately one fourth its original length, said pipe cleaner being inserted into said chamber and loosely attached with its middle bend over said hook to form a freely detachable member when said mouth piece is removed and said cleaner is Withdrawn thereby.

3. In a tobacco pipe provided with a removable mouth piece and a chamber in the stem thereof, the combination with a pipe cleaner folded upon itself to substantially fill said chamber, of a hook forming afixed part of the inner end of said removable mouth piece and adapted to detachably engage a folded bend of said pipe cleaner for the purpose of simultaneously withdrawing said pipe cleaner when said mouth piece is removed and for discarding said cleaner without further touching the same.

4. In a tobacco pipe provided with a removable mouth piece and a chamber in the stem thereof, the combination with a pipe cleaner adapted to fill out said chamber, of a hook forming a fixed part of the inner end of said removable mouth piece, said hook being adapted to engage said pipe cleaner for the purpose of withdrawing it simultaneously with the removal of said mouth piece and releasing said cleaner thereafter without further touching the same.

5. The combination with a tobacco pipe having a chamber in the stem thereof and a separate mouth piece inserted into said stem, of a pipe cleaner comprising a central wire carrying an absorbent material thereon and folded a plurality of times upon itself to form a loop adjacent said mouth piece, said pipe cleaner being adapted to be removably disposed within and to substantially fill said chamber and to serve as an absorbing member when the pipe is being smoked, and gripping means attached to said mouth piece and adapted to engage said loop and. to withdraw said pipe cleaner from said chamber when said mouth piece is removed.

6. A tobacco pipe having a bowl with a false bottom formed integrally therein and a stem having a chamber separated from said bowl by said false bottom, said bowl and said chamber communicating through a duct in said false bottom and said duct being inclined toward said stem to facilitate the passage of a cleaner therethrough, a mouth piece adapted to be removably attached to said stem, an absorbent member adapted to be placed within and to substantially fill said chamber, and a hook fixedly attached to said mouth piece and adapted to detachably engage said member and providing means whereby when said mouth piece is removed from said stem said member is withdrawn and released from said hook when said hook is pointed downwardly.

OTTO C. SEMO'NSEN. 

